OSLO (Norway), June 7: Twice world 10,000 metres champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia shattered the world women’s 5,000 metres record when she clocked 14 minutes 11.15 seconds at the Oslo Golden League meeting in the Bislett Stadium on Friday.

Dibaba broke the mark of 14:16.63 set by her compatriot Meseret Defar at the same stadium on June 15 last year.

Lucy Wangui of Kenya was second in 14:33.49, a personal best for her, and sister Ejegayehu Dibaba was third in 14:36.78 at the second of the six Golden League meetings of the season in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in August.

The early pace was set by Anna Alminova of Russia before Dibaba, one of three sisters in the race, pulled away on a balmy evening in the Norwegian capital.

“I am very, very happy, it’s a joyous day,” Dibaba, the world indoor 5,000 record holder, told reporters after setting the 54th world record recorded at the Bislett stadium since 1924.

Dibaba said she was surprised to break the mark by nearly five seconds. Her performance does not count towards the $1 million Golden League jackpot shared by athletes who win all of their events as the women’s 5,000 is not one of the 10 disciplines this season.

Croatia’s Blanka Vlasic won the women’s high jump, clearing 2.04 metres, improving her season’s best of 2.03, and keeping her in the running for the jackpot after her triumph in Berlin five days ago. It was her 26th straight victory.

An attempt at a world record height of 2.10, which would have broken the 21-year-old record of Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova at 2.09 metres failed.

Earlier, US Olympic and world champion Jeremy Wariner set a year’s best of 43.98 seconds in the 400 metres.

Wariner was beaten to the line in the opening Golden League meeting last Sunday by fellow-American LaShawn Merritt.

Bahama’s Christopher Brown was second in 44.40 seconds and Costa Rica’s Nery Brenes third with 45.21 seconds on a warm breezy evening at the Bislett stadium in the Norwegian capital.

Russia’s world record holder Gulnara Galkina also set a year’s leading time of nine minutes 14.77 seconds in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, running away from a strong field. The event makes its Olympic debut in Beijing.

Galkina beat compatriot and world champion Yekaterina Volkova by nearly four seconds, with Australia’s Donna Macfarlane third.

Sudan’s 18-year-old Abubaker Kaki won the men’s 800 metres in 1:42.69 seconds, a world junior record and the time under 1:43 seconds in the past five years.

The next Golden League meeting is scheduled for Rome on June 11.

Results:

Men’s:

100 metres: 1. Derrick Atkins (Bahamas) 9.98 seconds; 2. Michael Rodgers (US) 10.04; 3. Marc Burns (Trinidad and Tobago) 10.07; 4. Marlon Devonish (Britain) 10.08; 5. Clement Campbell (Jamaica) 10.19; 6. Ronald Pognon (France) 10.19; 7. Samuel Francis (Qatar) 10.21; 8. Preston Perry (US) 10.32.

200 metres: 1. Brendan Christian (Antigua and Barbuda) 20.39 seconds; 2. Paul Hession (Ireland) 20.48; 3. Clement Campbell (Jamaica) 20.58; 4. Brian Dzingai (Zimbabwe) 20.59; 5. Marlon Devonish (Britain) 20.59; 6. Kristof Beyens (Belgium) 20.65; 7. Christian Mogstad (Norway) 21.48; 8. John Ertzgaard (Norway) 21.93.

400 metres: 1. Jeremy Wariner (US) 43.98 seconds; 2. Chris Brown (Bahamas) 44.40; 3. Nery Brenes (Costa Rica) 45.21; 4. Ricardo Chambers (Jamaica) 45.49; 5. Ato Stephens (Trinidad and Tobago) 45.62; 6. Sanjay Ayre (Jamaica) 45.68; 7. Darold Williamson (US) 45.73; 8. Johan Wissman (Sweden) 45.78.

800 metres: 1. Abubaker Kaki Khamis (Sudan) one minute 42.69 seconds; 2. David Lekuta Rudisha (Kenya) 1:43.72; 3. Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (South Africa) 1:44.04; 4. Mohamed Al Salhi (Saudi Arabia) 1:44.83; 5. Abraham Chepkirwok (Uganda) 1:45.45; 6. Jeffrey Riseley (Australia) 1:46.40; 7. Antonio Reina (Spain) 1:46.95; 8. Sam Ellis (Britain) 1:48.15.

1,500 metres: 1. Tom Lancashire (Britain) three minutes 35.33 seconds; 2. Mitchell Kealey (Australia) 3:36.21; 3. Timothy Kiptanui (Kenya) 3:37.15; 4. Michael East (Britain) 3:37.55; 5. Said Ahmed (US) 3:37.84; 6. Francisco Espana (Spain) 3:38.68; 7. Jakub Holusa (Czech Republic) 3:43.63; 8. Christian Obrist (Italy) 3:43.76.

Mile: 1. Andrew Baddeley (Britain) three minutes 49.38 seconds; 2. Haron Keitany (Kenya) 3:49.70; 3. Derese Mekonnen (Ethiopia) 3:49.72; 4. Mohamed Moustaoui (Morocco) 3:50.08; 5. Augustine Choge (Kenya) 3:50.30; 6. Nicholas Kemboi (Qatar) 3:50.83; 7. Juan Pierre van Deventer (South Africa) 3:51.31; 8. Mohammed Shaween (Saudi Arabia) 3:52.52.

400-metre hurdles: 1. Bershawn Jackson (US) 48.15 seconds; 2. Danny McFarlane (Jamaica) 48.58; 3. Louis van Zyl (South Africa) 48.84; 4. Marek Plawgo (Poland) 49.05; 5. Periklis Iakovakis (Greece) 49.56; 6. James Carter (US) 50.15; 7. Adam Kunkel (Canada) 50.99; 8. Andreas Totsas (Norway) 51.64.

Long jump: 1. Hussein Al Sabee (Saudi Arabia) 8.19 metres; 2. Andrew Howe (Italy) 8.16; 3. Godfrey Mokoena (South Africa) 8.15; 4. Miguel Pate (US) 8.14; 5. Brian Johnson (US) 8.12; 6. Nikolay Atanasov (Bulgaria) 7.48; 7. Sindre Almsengen (Norway) 7.28.Javelin throw: 1. Andreas Thorkildsen (Norway) 87.73 metres; 2. Tero Jaervenpaeae (Finland) 86.49; 3. Tero Pitkaemaeki (Finland) 85.92; 4. Sergey Makarov (Russia) 83.44; 5. Magnus Arvidsson (Sweden) 83.28; 6. Teemu Wirkkala (Finland) 80.70; 7. Mike Hazle (US) 80.31; 8. Jarrod Bannister (Australia) 76.80.Women’s:

100 metres: 1. Sheri-Ann Brooks (Jamaica) 11.24 seconds; 2. Bianca Knight (US) 11.25; 3. Yuliya Nesterenko (Belarus) 11.26; 4. Ene Franca Idoko (Nigeria) 11.39; 5. Shalonda Solomon (US) 11.42; 6. Stephanie Durst (US) 11.48; 7. Ezinne Okparaebo (Norway) 11.60; 8. Folake Akinyemi (Norway) 11.79.

200 metres: 1. Bianca Knight (US) 22.56 seconds; 2. Yuliya Gushchina (Russia) 22.85; 3. Christine Ohuruogu (Britain) 22.94; 4. Cydonie Mothersill (Cayman Islands) 23.06; 5. Debbie Ferguson (Bahamas) 23.07; 6. Muriel Hurtis-Houairi (France) 23.10; 7. Sheri-Ann Brooks (Jamaica) 23.17.

800 metres: 1. Pamela Chelimo (Kenya) one minute 55.41 seconds; 2. Lucia Klocova (Slovakia) 1:58.89; 3. Kenia Sinclair (Jamaica) 1:59.00; 4. Yuliya Krevsun (Ukraine) 1:59.25; 5. Janeth Jepkosgei (Kenya) 1:59.57; 6. Jenny Meadows (Britain) 1:59.67; 7. Elisa Cusma Piccione (Italy) 1:59.76; 8. Tamsyn Lewis (Australia) 2:01.06.

5,000 metres: 1. Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 14 minutes 11.15 seconds (world record); 2. Lucy Wangui (Kenya) 14:33.49; 3. Ejagayehu Dibaba (Ethiopia) 14:36.78; 4. Belaynesh Fikadu (Ethiopia) 14:52.39; 5. Jennifer Rhines (US) 14:54.29; 6. Dolores Checa (Spain) 14:55.71; 7. Genzebe Dibaba (Ethiopia) 15:02.41; 8. Joanne Pavey (Britain) 15:02.89

3,000-metre steeplechase: 1. Gulnara Samitova (Russia) nine minutes 14.77 seconds; 2. Yekaterina Volkova (Russia) 9:18.24; 3. Donna MacFarlane (Australia) 9:18.35; 4. Ruth Bisibori Nyangau (Kenya) 9:18.43; 5. Wioletta Janowska (Poland) 9:25.20; 6. Zemzem Ahmed (Ethiopia) 9:25.80; 7. Mekdes Bekele Tadese (Ethiopia) 9:34.34; 8. Tatyana Petrova (Russia) 9:35.09.

High jump: 1. Blanka Vlasic (Croatia) 2.04 metres; 2. Ariane Friedrich (Germany) 1.98; 3. Vita Palamar (Ukraine) 1.94; 3. Ruth Beitia (Spain) 1.94; 5. Chaunte Howard (US) 1.94; 6. Tia Hellebaut (Belgium) 1.94; 7. Emma Green (Sweden) 1.90; 8. Nicole Forrester (Canada) 1.90.—Reuters

Opinion

Editorial

Afghan strikes
Updated 26 Dec, 2024

Afghan strikes

The military option has been employed by the govt apparently to signal its unhappiness over the state of affairs with Afghanistan.
Revamping tax policy
26 Dec, 2024

Revamping tax policy

THE tax bureaucracy appears to have convinced the government that it can boost revenues simply by taking harsher...
Betraying women voters
26 Dec, 2024

Betraying women voters

THE ECP’s recent pledge to eliminate the gender gap among voters falls flat in the face of troubling revelations...
Kurram ‘roadmap’
Updated 25 Dec, 2024

Kurram ‘roadmap’

The state must provide ironclad guarantees that the local population will be protected from all forms of terrorism.
Snooping state
25 Dec, 2024

Snooping state

THE state’s attempts to pry into citizens’ internet activities continue apace. The latest in this regard is a...
A welcome first step
25 Dec, 2024

A welcome first step

THE commencement of a dialogue between the PTI and the coalition parties occupying the treasury benches in ...